One of a political party which grew up in England in the seventeenth century, in the reigns of Charles I. and II., when great contests existed respecting the royal prerogatives and the rights of the people. Those who supported the king in his high claims were called
Tories, and the advocates of popular rights, of parliamentary power over the crown, and of toleration to Dissenters, were, after 1679, called
Whigs. The terms
Liberal and
Radical have now generally superseded
Whig in English politics. See the note under
Tory.
(Eng. Politics) See: Tory